Rainbow Wahine basketball team routs Cal Poly

Two nights after the season’s coldest shooting performance, the University of Hawaii women’s basketball team torched Cal Poly in an 80-58 rout tonight at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Forward Kallin Spiller led five UH players in double figures with 19 points on 9-for-11 shooting and the Rainbow Wahine led by as many as 32 on their way to earning a split of their homestand.

Hawaii guard Meilani McBee hit four 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 13 points and guard Daejah Phillips added 12 off the bench. Guard McKenna Haire contributed 11 points in her second start of the season. Lily Wahinekapu had 10 points in her seventh straight double-digit scoring night and dished out seven assists.

Phillips and Kelsie Imai had five assists each and UH (9-12, 7-5 Big West) tied its season high with 22 assists on 29 made field goals while extending its trend of alternating wins and losses for 11 straight games dating back to a 50-47 win at Cal Poly on Dec. 31.

>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. Cal Poly

UH shot 25% from the field and went 2-for-23 from 3-point range in a 57-47 loss to UC Davis on Thursday, but nearly matched that point total in the first half against Cal Poly.

After missing their first shot of the night, the Wahine connected on their next nine starting with a Wahinekapu 3-pointer 46 seconds into the game. Haire also connected on her first 3-point attempt, McBee went 3-for-3 and UH led 24-4 when Phillips completed a three-point play after a jumper in the lane at the 4:08 mark of the first quarter.

Cal Poly opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run to cut UH’s lead to 31-23. But the Wahine went inside to Spiller for three post buckets and McBee drilled her fourth 3-pointer in a 15-0 UH surge and UH took a 46-26 lead into halftime.

UH avoided a third-quarter letdown and completed the sweep of the season series with the Mustangs.

Oumou Toure led Cal Poly (6-14, 3-9) with 14 points and ‘Iolani graduate Taylor Wu hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to finish with nine points.

UH heads on the road next week for games at UC San Diego (11-11, 8-4) on Thursday and at Cal State Fullerton (10-12, 5-8) on Feb. 11.